A recent study, published in the journal Translational Psychiatry, found that the omega-3 fatty acid DHA might play a small but preventive role in reducing the risk of psychosis among young adults.
 
Omega-3s are known to exhibit some function in supporting cognitive health, such as by modulating the inflammatory process and as central building blocks in synaptogenesis (the proliferation of new brain cells).
 
“Humans may have evolved on a diet with a relatively balanced ratio of omega-6:omega-3 PUFAs, but in the average modern Western diet this ratio may be 10:1 or higher,” the authors of the study wrote, adding that this ratio is an indicative factor in low-grade inflammation. “There is a body of evidence implicating low-grade inflammation in association with the presence or risk of mental disorders such as schizophrenia and depression, at least in a subset of affected patients.”
 
The authors of the study observed participants of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children who provided blood samples at the ages 17 and 24, in order to address the longitudinal impact that omega-3 blood concentrations could have on the risk of developing psychosis in a large scale, cross-sectional and longitudinal design. In total, the sample size included 6,087 participants who attended either one or both clinics.
 
At both the age 17 and age 24 clinics, participants completed a Psychosis-Like Symptoms Interview questionnaire in order to assess self-reported psychotic experience, along with questionnaires for depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. The authors of the study noted that while omega-3 blood concentrations on the whole did not result in significant reductions in psychotic symptom risk, higher levels of DHA in particular were significantly linked to reduced odds of psychotic disorders at age 24, when looking particularly at the omega-6:omega-3 ratio.
 
“It is unlikely that PUFA status measured at a single point in time is sufficient to predict risk of future psychotic illness, but rather that longer-term deficiency in DHA, particularly in early development and adolescence, leads to enhanced risk in concert with other genetic and environmental factors,” the authors of the study concluded.